Novel nanomedicine-based MRI contrast agents for gynecological malignancies.

Abstract

Gynecological cancers result in significant morbidity and mortality in women despite advances in treatment and diagnosis. This is due to detection of the disease in the late stages following metastatic spread in which treatment options become limited and may not result in positive outcomes. In addition, traditional contrast agents are not very effective in detecting primary metastatic tumors and cells due to a lack of specificity and sensitivity of the diagnostic tools, which limits their effectiveness. Recently, the field of nanomedicine-based contrast agents offers a great opportunity to develop highly sophisticated devices that can overcome many traditional hurdles of contrast agents including solubility, cell-specific targeting, toxicities, and immunological responses. These nanomedicine-based contrast agents including liposomes, micelles, dendrimers, multifunctional magnetic polymeric nanohybrids, fullerenes, and nanotubes represent improvements over their traditional counterparts, which can significantly advance the field of molecular imaging.

• Authors: Vicky V Mody, Mohamed Ismail Nounou, Malavosklish Bikram
• Journal: Advanced drug delivery reviews (Adv Drug Deliv Rev) Vol. 61 Issue 10 Pg. 795-807 (Aug 10 2009) ISSN: 1872-8294 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 19427886 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Contrast Media

Topics

• Breast Neoplasms (diagnosis)
• Contrast Media (administration & dosage, chemistry)
• Drug Delivery Systems
• Female
• Humans
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (methods)
• Nanostructures
• Ovarian Neoplasms (diagnosis)
• Uterine Cervical Neoplasms (diagnosis)